Searchable electronic catalogs are commonly used in support of various electronic commerce and purchasing functions. These catalogs must have a user interface for selectively retrieving data records. Engineers desire to make the user interfaces as simple as possible to operate, because complexity of the user interface can be a detriment to sales from the catalog. Simplicity becomes particularly important when the catalog is intended to be accessed by users with varying levels of skill or training. In particular, the results of the search should quickly and easily direct the user to the most desirable supplier or source for the requested goods.
User interfaces that are simple to operate should have the capability to handle almost any type of user input. In the case of an electronic catalog, if the user knows the exact part number of the desired product and enters the part number correctly into the user interface, then the database search engine will quickly identify the desired record from the database based on an exact match with the search string. In a more general case, the user may have only partial information about the desired product, or may incorrectly type the search string.
Similarly, the output of the search should be easy to understand. In an era when large accumulations of data are often available, there may be very large aggregations of catalog data in which to search and retrieve items. Ideally, a catalog search engine would have a mechanism for systematically searching through large electronic catalogs so that only the most relevant results are displayed to the user.
An over-abundance of catalog data can be problematic for at least two reasons: (1) the desired item may be available from many different suppliers, which creates a needlessly confusing array of output options for the user; and (2) computer system resources are expended to needlessly search for the desired item in the entire catalog database when a smaller, faster search would have uncovered the item from a preferred supplier. Managing the output options available to a user may be is particularly important in a corporate context in which individual employees are given the option of ordering their own supplies. In such a system, managers may wish to define a particular hierarchy of suppliers and enforce that hierarchy on users by only displaying the most desirable sources for items.
Previous systems have not adequately addressed the problems of searching large accumulations of catalog data and reporting the results in an efficient manner. Danish et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,444 disclose a process for identifying a single item from a family of items in a database. A feature screen and search process present the user with a guided nonclassification parametric search to identify matching items based upon user specified criteria and priorities. Also disclosed are a method and system appropriate in an Internet environment.
Cochran et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,879,648 and 5,206,949 disclose a method of variably displaying search terms in which two control inputs are used to select a plurality of terms for a plurality of categories. A term in a visible position on the screen becomes a search term or a qualifier for other records in the database. The search results are dynamically formed on the basis of selected search terns. The search results can also be grouped in fixed or static lists.
More recently, Aalbersberg in U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,678 discloses a user interface for document retrieval in which each query word is displayed by means of a distinctive representation. In a subsequent results window, each document header or title is accompanied by an indicator which employs the same distinctive representation to directly indicate to the user the relative contributions of the individual query words to each listed document. The distinctive representation can take several forms, such as by a different color or by means of hatching or shading or by displayed icons.
Efficiently searching through an electronic catalog has been the focus of much effort. Prior catalog search algorithms typically employ one of two search strategies. The first strategy is a keyword search for selecting database records based on matching text strings. The second strategy is a classification search for selecting database records based on lists of classifications from which to narrow and select the database records. Each of the two search strategies has disadvantages that can make it difficult for users to find their desired database records.
The keyword search strategy has the disadvantage that users must be familiar with the appropriate key word terms that are likely to yield the desired data records. In addition, it is not always possible to quickly collect groups of logically related data records. If a close match is found, but it is not the desired exact match, it is not always possible to utilize the information in the close match to quickly identify all similar data records. A keyword search engine does not typically have a “more-like-this” function that operates on close matches to identify similar items within the database.
The classification search strategy can take advantage of a logical grouping of data records. This search strategy is best suited for finding data that break down logically into successively greater levels of detail. This search strategy is most effective when the data have been carefully edited and structured within a database. Finding a single relevant record can quickly lead to all other relevant records, as long as the grouping logic relates to the way in which the data are used. Thus, a “more-like-this” function can quickly identify all similarly classified records in the database.
The disadvantage of the classification search strategy is that users may not always anticipate the proper classification of certain records, and may search the wrong categories for their desired database record. The user is tied to the logical structure of the data, and must learn to navigate the predefined structure of the database in order to locate particular data records.
Whether a search is conducted by keyword or classification strategy, the focus is on finding a particular item. In some cases the item is available from more than one supplier. In other cases, there may be more than one different kind of item, available from more than one supplier, that will satisfy the user's needs. In any case, it would be desirable to further refine the search methodology so that the most advantageous suppler is quickly identified to the user. It would also be desirable to avoid the computer processing time that would otherwise be needlessly expended on searching through less desirable supplier catalogs when the item has already been found.
It would be further desirable to have a simple user interface, both for inputting search terms and reviewing results. On the input side, the software should allow free-form text searching, with no prerequisites for format or content. Thus, it would be desirable to have a system capable of identifying the database records most likely to be the desired choice of the user, even when the user inputs a search string having misspelled terms, word fragments, or other characteristics of the item being sought. On the output side, the software should only display the most advantageous sources for items, especially when the items are available from many different sources.
In many commercial situations, it would be advantageous to be able to configure the search behavior for a variety of factors. In addition to providing a simple user interface, it would be desirable to segment a database of searchable items into multiple tiers. The combination of search strategy and database segmentation would enable the identification of items from the most economical sources. It would also enable system managers to adjust the results based upon changing factors. Finally, such a system would efficiently use computing resources. These, and other technical and business aspects of catalog search engines, are the motivating factors for the invention that is described herein.